"Nearly 86 percent of the Amish in Lancaster County are affiliated with the Old Order Amish, sometimes called House Amish... At least six varieties of more progressive Amish (some of whom use electricity and own automobiles) number nearly one thousand members. These groups splintered off in progressive directions over the past 75 years, leaving the Old Order Amish as the sole guardians of traditional Amish culture. "

"The three division--1877, 1910, and 1966--are crucial benchmarks in Amish history. Memories of the schisms, alive in the minds of leaders, function as turning points in Amish oral history. The residual effects of these schisms touch the decision-making process in the Amish community even today. The three divisions released progressive social steam in periods of rapid changes as the Amish church grappled with technological innovations. Interestingly, there have been no conservative or reform divisions within the Old Order Amish community.

In retrospect, the expulsion of the dissidents served useful social functions over the years. The offshoots of 1877, 1910, and 1966 provide negative examples for the Old Order Amish--demonstrations of the corrosive effects of wordliness. Through their ownership of cars and use of electricity, the liberal groups have displayed the folly of worldliness to several generations of young Amish. "

"The controversy brewed for over ten years until 1909--a time of rapid social change--when cars, telephones, and electricty were making their debut. The strict shunning of members who joined progressive Amish-Mennonite churches kindled the ire of some members of the Amish church... In the fall of 1909, about thirty-five Amish families who had been disturbed by the harz incident began holding separate services every three or four weeks for singing and Bible reading. The group petitioed he bishops for a more lenient use of the ban and announced their intention 'to withdraw' if the request was not granted. Meeting on 12 October 1909, the Amish bishops denied their request. The splinter group, of some eigthy-five people, represented about one-fifth of Amish membership at the time. The new group held its first worship services in February 1910... The progressive faction was eventualy dubbed the Peachy church... "

"The second division occurred in 1910, as cars, telephones, electricity, and mechanized farm equipment were beginning to revolutionize the social landscape of rural America. Disturbed by a strict interpretation of shunning, a liberal faction formed an independent group, eventually konwn as the Peachy church. Although very similar to the Old Order Amish in dres and outlook, the group embraced evangelical religious expressions (such as Sunday school) and tolerated technological innovations (such as telephones, electricy, tractors, and, eventually cars). Today this groupi saffiliated with the Beachy Amish church. "

"In 1950 the Peachy church became affiliated with a larger national body, the Beachy Amish church. Today six congregations are affiliated with the Beach Amish church in Lancaster County. They conduct their worship services in English, hold Sunday school, drive cars, and use electricity. The men wear an abbreviated beard, and members dress in plain garbs, although not as plain as that of the Old Order Amish. "

Table 1-1: "Plain Churches in Lancaster County "; "Inncludes groups that presently wear plain clothing, as well as those gropus that wore it earlier in the 20 century. "; Members: "Membership rounded to nearest hundred. Includes only baptized members, not children. " Church of the Brethren (20 congreg., 8,200 members); and 'Other Brethren Groups' (8 different groups/relig. bodies with 36 congreg., 5,000 members).

Table 1-1: "Plain Churches in Lancaster County "; "Inncludes groups that presently wear plain clothing, as well as those gropus that wore it earlier in the 20 century. "; Members: "Membership rounded to nearest hundred. Includes only baptized members, not children. " Church of the Brethren (20 congreg., 8,200 members); and 'Other Brethren Groups' (8 different groups/relig. bodies with 36 congreg., 5,000 members).

Table 1-1: "Plain Churches in Lancaster County "; "Inncludes groups that presently wear plain clothing, as well as those gropus that wore it earlier in the 20 century. "; Members: "Membership rounded to nearest hundred. Includes only baptized members, not children. " Church of the Brethren (20 congreg., 8,200 members); and 'Other Brethren Groups' (8 different groups/relig. bodies with 36 congreg., 5,000 members).

"The complexity of religious expression in the Lancaster environs is matched by few other areas of the United States. The county, home of some seventy-six religious groups [distinct denominations/religious bodies] ranging from Buddhists to Unitarians, has over 700 churches. At least thirty-seven of the seventy-six denominations are dubbed 'plain'... "

"The third division came in 1966 when a group of so-called New Order Amish left the Amish fold over differences related to the use of modern farm machinery. This faction subsequently splintered into several subgroups of New Order Amish, which vary in dres andin the use of cars, tractors, electricity, and church buildings. The various pockets of progressive Amish groups [including Beachy, which predates 'New Order Amish'] in the Lancaster area number less than one thousand members. "

"Old Order (Reidenbach) Mennonites... Columbiana, OH [H.Q.]... They remain the most conservative of the Pennsylvania Mennonites... The group has only one congregation. Membership: Not reported. There is only one congregation, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. "

Table: "Old Order Amish Population Estimates , 1880-1990, Lancaster County Settlement "; Sources: The number of distrcits is based on data from the 1973 Pennsylvania Amish Director of Lancaster and chester County Districts, 1980 Amish Directory of the Lancaster Co. Family, Raber's New American Almanac (1986), and Amish informants. In 1931 four districts divided to make a total of fifteen, and ths number is used for the 1930 calculations. The 1985 population estimates are based on a sample of every fourth householdin twenty districts. The 1985 average district size of 163 people was used to estimate the population from 1940 to 1990. Informatnestimates of 125 people per district were used for the years prior to 1940. The 1985 ratio of those 18 years of age and older (46.8%) to those under 18... was used to estimate the two age groups throughout the years. The 1990 estimates are based on current trends. Numbers are rounded off to the nearest 50. " [Shown: total]

"The land area occupied by the [Old Order] Amish in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1940 was 150 square miles, compared to approx. 525 square miles in 1980... The number of church districts [congregations] has increased dramatically... There were six districts in 1900, twenty-five in 1950, and sixty in 1979. "

"The land area occupied by the [Old Order] Amish in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1940 was 150 square miles, compared to approx. 525 square miles in 1980... The number of church districts [congregations] has increased dramatically... There were six districts in 1900, twenty-five in 1950, and sixty in 1979. "

"The land area occupied by the [Old Order] Amish in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1940 was 150 square miles, compared to approx. 525 square miles in 1980... The number of church districts [congregations] has increased dramatically... There were six districts in 1900, twenty-five in 1950, and sixty in 1979. "

Table 1-1: "Plain Churches in Lancaster County "; "Inncludes groups that presently wear plain clothing, as well as those gropus that wore it earlier in the 20 century. "; Members: "Membership rounded to nearest hundred. Includes only baptized members, not children. " Table lists Old Order Amish (83 congregations w/ 6,300 members) "

"Although the Amish live in the midst of a spreading urban region, rife with temptations of all sorts, their attrition rate is surprisingly low. The majority of Amish children join the church as adults. Church members recently reported that 88 percent of their children over 25 years of age had joined the church. This 12 percent attrition rate is likely a low estimae, because young adults between 25 and 35... may still leave the Amish fold. An earlier study in Lancaster found attrition ranging from 18 to 24% over several decades. Amish leaders estimate the fallout rate at 10 percent and think it has decdlined over the past thirty years. In any event, four out of five Amish children will likely remain Amish. The combination of high birth rate and a low dropout rate has produced vigorous growth. Lancaster's settlement expanded from merely six church districts in 1878 to nearly ninety today. "

"...Its [Lancaster County] present population of 400,000 will likely top 450,000 by the turn of the twenty-first century... Despite its robust agricultural output, not all Lancastrians are Amish or farmers. today less than 5 percent of jobs in the county directly involve agriculture. Nearly 800 industrial establishments dot the Garden Spot... Each year Lancaster Countians host some 5 million tourists, who spend over $400 million. Tourish, which has over six hundred facilities, creates more than 8,600 jobs for local people, including some Amish. The Industrialized Garden Spot is the habitat of Lancaster's Old Order Amish community of fourteen thousand children and adults, the oldest and largest Amish group in North America with common beliefs and practices. Nearly 86 percent of the Amish in Lancaster County are affiliated with the Old Order Amish, sometimes called House Amish because worship services are held in their homes. "

Figure 1-3: "Adult Religious Affiliationin Lancaster County " [Pie chart] Old Order Amish: 3%; Other Plain Groups: 12%; No Religious Affiliation: 36%; Other Religious Groups: 49%. "Estimates for all gropus include baptized members, or youth over twelve years of age. " [15%: Old Order Amish plus the other Plain Churches]

"At least thirty-seven of the seventy-six denominations [in Lancaster County] are dubbed 'plain' because of their traditional dress and austere lifestyle. Like their Amish cousins, they trace their theologial roots back to the Anabaptist movement of 16th-century Europe. The plain churches represent roughly 15 percent of the county's adult population [apparently including non-baptized adherents]. Some of these churches maintain strict standards of dress and behavior. Others, such as the Church of the Brethren and progressive Mennonite groups, have blended into the surrouding culture in recent years. Progressive Mennonites, who have largely assimilated into mainstream culture, number about sixteen thousand and are divided into ten different church affiliations. The Old Order Mennonites, the conservatives, also have some ten subdivisions, with a total of five thousand members. "

"...Mifflin County in central Pennsylvania. This region encompasses Kishacoquillas Valley..., which has in it 12 Amish-related groups. All originated in whole or in part among the Amish who came to this region from southeastern Pennsylvania as early as 1791... The Beachy Church (Valley View) or 'Speicher' group, named after bishop Jesse Speicher, but traditionally known as the 'Zook' church, was formed in 1911 as a progressive offshoot of the Peachey Amish. When a seceding group in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, requested ministerial help from Mifflin County and John B. Zook came to their assistance, the division was initiated. Thus a division spread form one settlement to another in this instance. "

"...Mifflin County in central Pennsylvania. This region encompasses Kishacoquillas Valley..., which has in it 12 Amish-related groups. All originated in whole or in part among the Amish who came to this region from southeastern Pennsylvania as early as 1791... The Beth-El Mennonite church, organized in 1973 with J. Ellroze Hartzler as its leader, consists of several families that withdrew from the long-established Allensville Mennonite congregation. These families were not pleased with the modernizing trends they saw in the congregation and built a separate meeting house... They emphasize the wearing of plain clothin--black stockings and cape dresses among women; plain, collarless coats and no neckties among men--and are not affiliated with any conference body. "

"...Mifflin County in central Pennsylvania. This region encompasses Kishacoquillas Valley [Big Valley]..., which has in it 12 Amish-related groups. All originated in whole or in part among the Amish who came to this region from southeastern Pennsylvania as early as 1791... The Brethren in Christ Church, a revivalist group, built a meeting house in Belleville in 1959. It gained adherents when members of the Beachy group, who by this time were allowed to have automobiles, began to attend Brethren in Christ revival meetings outside Big Valley. Like the Holdeman group, this group stresses repentance and conversion and conducts revival meetings, but does not require beards, a distinctive way of dressing, or avoidance of apostate members. the group has remained active but small in members. "

"...Mifflin County in central Pennsylvania. This region encompasses Kishacoquillas Valley..., which has in it 12 Amish-related groups. All originated in whole or in part among the Amish who came to this region from southeastern Pennsylvania as early as 1791... The 'Byler Church' is sometimes called die Alt Gemee ('the Old Church') and by a more descriptive phrase, the 'Bean-soupers.' The name comes from the practice of serving bean soup at lunch after the preaching service... Generally this group traces its connection to the Samuel B. King division in 1849... One of its most distinguishing traits... is the use of yellow tops on two-seated buggies... In 1948 the group affiliated and began to exchange ministers with the Rennos... "

"...Mifflin County in central Pennsylvania. This region encompasses Kishacoquillas Valley..., which has in it 12 Amish-related groups. All originated in whole or in part among the Amish who came to this region from southeastern Pennsylvania as early as 1791... The Holdeman group, first formed a small congregation in 1958, although the denom. (known as Church of God in Christ Mennonite) was founded over 100 yrs. ago... the local congregation was organized in an abandoned schoolhouse after several individuals from the Renno group... came in contact with itinerant evangelists of the group. The congregation has grown with the influx of members from several Amish groups that 'were expelled from the old order Amish due to an experimental knowledge of having received the New Birth and its subsequences.' Traditional Amish members who join this group appear to exchange one strict discipline for another, but gain greater personal freedom, for the group permits automobiles... "

"...Mifflin County in central Pennsylvania. This region encompasses Kishacoquillas Valley..., which has in it 12 Amish-related groups. All originated in whole or in part among the Amish who came to this region from southeastern Pennsylvania as early as 1791... The Locust Grove or Conservative Mennonite Church was organized in 1898 under the leadership of Bishop Abraham D. Zook by members of the Allensville and Belleville meeting-house churches who felt the change in their community was taking place too rapidly. The congregation is affiliated with the Conservative Mennonite Conference, but the styles of dress that once distinguished it from the Allensville or Maple Grove Mennonite churches no longer prevail... Many of the group's young people, like those of other Mennonite congregations in the area, attend college. "

"...Mifflin County in central Pennsylvania. This region encompasses Kishacoquillas Valley [Big Valley]..., which has in it 12 Amish-related groups. All originated in whole or in part among the Amish who came to this region from southeastern Pennsylvania as early as 1791... The Maple Grove Mennonite Church was organized in Belleville by the meeting-house Amish under the leadership of Solomon Byler in 1868. The congregation first affiliated with the Eastern Amish Mennonite Conference, but when that conference was disbanded, it affiliated with the Allegheny Conference of the Mennonite Church. The congregation has had the reputation of being the most progressive Mennonite group in Big Valley. "

"...Mifflin County in central Pennsylvania. This region encompasses Kishacoquillas Valley..., which has in it 12 Amish-related groups. All originated in whole or in part among the Amish who came to this region from southeastern Pennsylvania as early as 1791... The Allensville Mennonite Church [name of congregation] traces its origin to the Amish group organized in 1861 by Solomon Byler, the group that established meeting houses in 1869. The congregation is affiliated with the Allegheny Conference of the Mennonite Church [denomination], the largest body of Mennonites in North America. Its meeting house is located on Route 655, a short distance from the village of Allensville. A distinct style of dress is still discernible, for women wear white prayer coverings and print dresses, and a few still wear plain Mennonite bonnets. "

"...Mifflin County in central Pennsylvania. This region encompasses Kishacoquillas Valley..., which has in it 12 Amish-related groups. All originated in whole or in part among the Amish who came to this region from southeastern Pennsylvania as early as 1791... The 'New Amish' or Old Order Valley District (the official name) emerged in 1972 when members began to to study and articulate the meaning of salvation, especially assurance salvation... The New Amish group was greatly diminished when its bishop Christian Peachey with many members joined the Holdeman group in 1979. "

"...Mifflin County in central Pennsylvania. This region encompasses Kishacoquillas Valley..., which has in it 12 Amish-related groups. All originated in whole or in part among the Amish who came to this region from southeastern Pennsylvania as early as 1791... The 'Old School' Amish..., also known locally as the 'Nebraska Amish,' date from 1881. The name Nebraska derives from an Amish settlement in the state of Nebraska, and specifically from its bishop Yost H. Yoder... As the most traditional of all Amish in the New World, they have retained the oldest customs... All of the present 8... districts have tended to segregate themselves in the northeastern regions of Mifflin County, with small offshoots extending into Center and Union counties.

"...Mifflin County in central Pennsylvania. This region encompasses Kishacoquillas Valley..., which has in it 12 Amish-related groups... The Zook faction of the Old Schoolers broke from the Yoders in 1933, but to the outsider these groups appear identical. Each group has its own worship service on the same Sunday, and each has two bishops to insure its independence from the other. According to tradition, a difference of opinion arose between two Old School ministers... "

"...Mifflin County in central Pennsylvania. This region encompasses Kishacoquillas Valley..., which has in it 12 Amish-related groups... The Zook faction of the Old Schoolers broke from the Yoders in 1933, but to the outsider these groups appear identical. Each group has its own worship service on the same Sunday, and each has two bishops to insure its independence from the other. According to tradition, a difference of opinion arose between two Old School ministers... "

McKinley, Edward H. Marching to Glory: The History of the Salvation Army in the United States of America, 1880-1980. San Francisco: Harper & Row (1980), pg. 115.

"In December 1913, Brigadier A.E. Kimball... wrote in despair to the national chief secretary, pleading for 'some way out of the present difficulty we have in connection with so many Armies.' There was the Afro-American Army in Philadelphia (an especially disreputable swindle), the Good Samaritan Army in Detroit, and Christian Army in Nashville and Louisville. "

Table 3-5: "Religious Profiles of Selected Cities by Percentage ". Based on self-identification, phone interviews, conducted by Graduate School of the City University of New York, 1990. Total Philadelphia pop: 1.6 million.

"In 1688 several Welsh immigrants joined settlers from Rhode Island to organize a church in their community. It was the first Baptist church in Pennsylvania, and still exists as Lower Dublin Baptist Church... Their greatest missionary contribution was to help the Philadelphia Baptists to organize their own first church in 1698. "

"In 1688 several Welsh immigrants joined settlers from Rhode Island to organize a church in their community. It was the first Baptist church in Pennsylvania, and still exists as Lower Dublin Baptist Church... Their greatest missionary contribution was to help the Philadelphia Baptists to organize their own first church in 1698. By 1707 there were five Baptist churches in the Philadelphia area. "

Table 3-5: "Religious Profiles of Selected Cities by Percentage ". Based on self-identification, phone interviews, conducted by Graduate School of the City University of New York, 1990. Total Philadelphia pop: 1.6 million.

Table 3-5: "Religious Profiles of Selected Cities by Percentage ". Based on self-identification, phone interviews, conducted by Graduate School of the City University of New York, 1990. Total Philadelphia pop: 1.6 million.

Catholic - Pentecostal

Pennsylvania: Philadelphia

-

-

166units

-

1990

Naisbitt, John & Patricia Aburdene. Megatrends 2000: Ten New Directions for the 1990's. New York: William Morrow and Co. (1990), pg. 288.

Table 3-5: "Religious Profiles of Selected Cities by Percentage ". Based on self-identification, phone interviews, conducted by Graduate School of the City University of New York, 1990. Total Philadelphia pop: 1.6 million.

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